The following article was published in the August/September ’08 edition of the Meppershall Messenger:

I was amazed when I looked at the results of our Parish Plan Questionnaire that there is no reported interest in adult learning; none at all. But I don’t actually believe this is a true reflection of the situation and I think it’s about an interpretation of what ‘adult learning’ is.  I wonder if lots of people think it counts only if there is a formal qualification at the end of the learning programme.

If this is so, there is a lot of education going on that just isn’t getting its rightful recognition.  If you attend an exercise class (yoga for example on a Thursday evening at Meppershall Lower School) you are learning.  The same applies to those who go to W.I.; belong to Meppershall Players, Bell Ringers, choir members, Ballroom Dancers and members of Bowls Clubs.

In fact, if you have a hobby of any kind, it would be difficult to continue in it without learning. And how many of us have read about Roger’s bees in the Messenger for example and said “well I never knew that”?

And what about those who go to work, do you ever have to attend training courses or attend Team Meetings?  Are you part of an Appraisal system in the work place or does anyone regularly review your progress at work.  If you are progressing, it stands to reason that you have been learning.

Maybe you’ve bought a new camera recently and you want to take better pictures or know how to store them on your computer or send them to friends and relations?  If so, you might be thinking of taking a short course.  This could be at somewhere like Samuel Whitbread or it could be a distance learning course or, these days, even an on-line course.

If you want to find out about any kind of course, you can try the learndirect website at www.learndirect.co.uk.

If you are interested in formal learning that will lead to a qualification, the Open University (as one example) offers a much greater variety of courses than they ever used to and you don’t have to watch programmes in the middle of the night anymore.

Locally, in addition to provision at Samuel Whitbread Community College, check out the part-time programmes at North Herts College, Bedford College, Barnwell College and Shuttleworth College, if you fancy learning something and meeting new people.

Learning is not only fun, it is good for us and my guess is that if the same question was asked again and possibly re-phrased to say are you or would you like to engage in any kind of learning, then I suspect we would discover that Meppershall is full of learners after all.

If you would like to discuss opportunities for learning, why not book an appointment for either a face-to-face or telephone session. Click here to contact Jill Foskett